All in a Night's Work
by irma66
Summary: Veronica's client doesn't respect her private time. She has so many better things to do than wait for a money shot.


Veronica growled as she glanced at her phone. _10:13 PM._ The client's email had said her husband got a call for 'an unexpected meeting' and left their house at 8:30 PM. That _had_ to be a cover for something clandestine, so could Veronica go look for him?

When she first saw the message, her first instinct was to ignore it. Who could expect a response to something sent so late? Especially when the recipient of said message had a hot fighter pilot boyfriend only recently back from his latest tour and available for climbing? But Logan knew she'd been struggling to catch this particular philanderer and when Veronica had initially seen the email pop up on her phone and muttered, "In your dreams, lady," he'd inquired about the message and then told her she should go.

"Veronica, what if this is finally the night and you miss him? How many more nights are you going to spend trying to catch up to this guy?"

This particular job wasn't outside The Camelot; the client had directed her to The Excelsior instead, Neptune's newest 'no-tell motel'. It had been getting a lot of play in the last year but Veronica missed the old days when pretty much everyone used The Camelot. Now they could be at one or the other, which made snapping the money shot that much more difficult.

"Argghh, why are you sending me out into the night? We had such big plans."

Logan shook his head with a fond smile. "Our big plans were to watch a movie and go to bed early. Same as pretty much every night. And I know you. If you stay home, you'll be mad at yourself tomorrow. So go. I'll handle the movie part of the evening while you're gone and by the time you're back, all that will be left is the going to bed part." His smile turned into a leer. "That's the best part anyway."

"That's true, but why don't you come with me? We haven't been on a stakeout together in forever."

Logan's eyebrows shot up. "Umm, yeah, that's because the last time I went along, I 'distracted' you—your word, Bobcat, not mine—and I was permanently banned from all staking out. Remember?"

Veronica sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. "That might sound a little familiar."

"Uh huh. So, go hang out at The Excelsior for an hour or two, and then you can come home. That way, even if you don't end up getting him, you won't feel guilty for not trying."

Sometimes she hated that Logan was all sensible these days. She remembered a younger Logan who would have happily talked her out of going out on a job and coming to bed with him instead. This one... _he really is a grown-up now._ She finally agreed that there was no reason not to follow up on the lead and she'd left, grumbling the entire time.

Now she'd been sitting, not sighting her quarry, for close to hour and she'd had enough. She was ready to head home and get naked with the hot boyfriend...who was going to owe her something extra since it was his fault she'd agreed to go out in the first place. As she pulled away from The Excelsior, listing the ways she wanted him to make this debacle up to her, a text message made her phone buzz. She groaned when she recognized the client's name. _No, no more, please._

The client gods were apparently not on her side tonight. She pulled over to read the text.

Jenny Butler: 10:26 PM: _Need u2 relocate. My BFF just called - his car at Camelot - BFF getting room # - Please get him._

"Oh no." First off, all that time in the wrong freakin' place. Second, she was ready to go home, not start all over again. Third, and probably most importantly, _BFF getting room#._ That was a terrible idea. Questioning the clerk about a guest in a place like The Camelot was a good way to cause a warning call to the guest. She quickly texted back.

Veronica Mars: 10:29 PM: _CALL OFF BFF._

Jenny Butler: 10:32 PM: _Too late. Room 201._

Veronica rolled her eyes. This either made things easier, or so much harder.

* * *

Veronica pulled into the parking lot, parking as far from the office as she could manage. The four door sedan that Mars Investigation used for stakeout purposes was nondescript and garnered no attention, but it was best to not let the clerk see it. Or her.

She looked around the lot but didn't see the mark's car anywhere. He'd probably cleared out after the BFF asked for the room number. _This is a waste of time._

Veronica looked at her phone again. _10:47 PM_. She wasn't going to spend another hour sitting in this parking lot. She'd take a stroll past the room, see if there was a 'do not disturb' sign or any lights and, if not, she was out.

She slipped out of the car and took the nearest stairs up to the second floor, glancing at the closest door. Room 215. She stopped and looked diagonally across the parking lot to a room she'd been in before. If this end of the building was 215, than 201 was probably where the ATF agent had stayed all those years ago. She smiled for a moment, thinking of Logan, then frowned. She didn't want an unfaithful husband contaminating that space for her. Obviously there'd been plenty of unfaithful husbands, and wives, in that spot, but _she'd_ never had to get the money shot there. She leaned against the balcony, trying to decide what to do. Finally, she realized she couldn't just let this go when she was so close, no matter how unhappy she was about it.

She made her way around to the opposite side of the motel, stopping for a moment at the stairs that miniature G-Man Ben had dragged her up all those years ago. She hadn't been up to this room in more than a decade, but just being in this space again triggered so many familiar feelings. Exhilaration, longing, a burning in her chest that spread all through her. The confusion she'd felt in that first kiss so long ago was gone now. Even though their lives were still complicated, with their jobs, and the resulting separations, she no longer questioned that she was exactly where she was supposed to be, with the man she was supposed to be with. No more questions about that. While the simple thought of Logan still made her burn, it was sure, and almost peaceful in a way.

She shook her head, trying to clear Logan out of her brain as much as was ever possible and walked around the corner to Room 201. There was a light on in the room and the door was slightly ajar. She froze, not expecting the open door. If this was a movie, this would be a trap of some kind and she was not a fan of walking into those. But this wasn't a movie and the open door was more likely just a matter of the inhabitants being a little too eager to make sure to close the door all the way.

Veronica pulled her camera out of her bag and checked the settings, making sure she was ready for rapid-fire photos in a lighted room. She glanced back at the stairs and stepped to the door. _Open the door, shoot quickly, then down the stairs to the car as fast as possible. Piece of cake._ She checked the camera again, then eased the door open a tiny bit more. She heard the mattress creak, and leaned in through the open space, facing toward the bed, shooting immediately, before she'd even gotten a good look at her subject. When the scene in front of her registered in her brain, it was all she could do to keep her hands on her camera.

"It's about time you got here," her boyfriend said in an exasperated voice. "I was starting to think you bailed on the whole thing." He stood up and walked toward her.

"Logan! What—what are you doing here?" She stood, completely confused, as he gently took her camera out of her hand and tugged her bag over her head, before putting the camera back inside and setting it on the tiny desk. She watched him silently and when he was standing in front of her again, smiling down at her, she tried again. "Logan, what are you doing here?"

"Here for you, sugarpuss," he said with a grin, then scooped her up to kiss her. Confused or not, she never missed a chance to kiss Logan. She felt them moving and then suddenly, her back was cold.

"Logan?" She pulled back and discovered they were back out on the balcony. "What's going on?" She wriggled and he let her slide to her feet before releasing her and stepping past her towards the railing. She threw her hands up in the air, frustrated now by his lack of explanation. "What the hell?" She spun around, and was stunned into silence again.

Logan was down on one knee, in the spot where, once upon a time, he pulled her to him for their first kiss. He smiled at her and held a hand out. "Veronica," he said and she moved to him, taking his hand.

"Logan," she said, fighting the smile that wanted to break out across her face. She managed to keep her expression at a smirk instead but she was pretty sure she was heart-eyeing at him like crazy.

He pulled her closer. "Veronica, a long time ago, we shared a moment on this very spot and now, I'm hoping we can share another. You're the most important person in my life, probably since that moment all those years ago and I think, finally, we're in a place where we can take the next step together. I love you, Veronica Mars, and I know you feel the same. There is no one else I will ever want to share my life with, so I lured you here to ask if you'll do me the honor of becoming my wife."

She stood, looking down into those earnest eyes she could get lost in. A proposal wasn't entirely unexpected; they'd talked about the idea a few times and overall, she was receptive. She was okay either way, as long as they were together. She was caught off guard by what was happening here though.

"Hang on, what do you mean, lured me? Is this whole job a fake? I've been tracking this guy for a couple weeks."

Logan snickered and rolled his eyes. "Those were not the key words in what I just said."

"True, but they're the ones I'm curious about right now. Is this client fake?"

He shook his head. "No. I just appropriated the case for tonight."

"How?"

"Seriously? This is the conversation you want to have right now?" He gave her a crooked smile. "Okay, I went in to get your dad's blessing—"

"You did?"

He sighed. "Of course I did. And when that was done, I asked Mac for help getting you to the Camelot. She worked out faking the incoming messages."

"I can't believe you did all this." She sat on his extended thigh and looped her arms around his shoulders. "So much work to get me here."

"Totally worth it." He tipped his head and caught her mouth with his, but after a moment, he pulled back. "So?"

"So what?" she asked, chasing his lips.

He snorted in disbelief. "So—will you marry me?"

"Oh, that." She laughed and nipped at his throat. "Of course."

"Of course?" Now he sounded incredulous. "Just like that? Of course?" He surged to his feet, a grin splitting his face before he lifted her in his arms and spun her back toward the room, pinning her against the wall and kissing her fiercely. She wrapped her legs around his hips, one arm clutching his shoulders as the other moved up to comb through his hair. He'd moved from kissing her lips and was working his way down the side of her neck when her eyes fluttered open and she gave his too-short hair a tug.

"Logan?"

"Mmm?" he hummed against her throat.

"Yeah, I'm not sure that Vinnie Van Lowe doesn't have cameras permanently affixed in the eaves of this place. Maybe we should..."

"Cool it?" He chuckled and straightened, smiling down at her. The absolute joy in his eyes made her heart swell. If she'd known he'd be this happy, she might have pushed this marriage thing earlier. "Maybe we just get back inside and we can take this celebration to the next level."

"You want to actually have sex at the Camelot?" She wrinkled her nose. "Is it really a celebration when you need penicillin afterwards?"

He laughed and shifted her in his arms before walking back toward the door of Room 201. "As long as we stay off the bedspread, I think we're fine. And...voila!" He stepped into the room and turned so she was facing the bedspread-less bed. "I already dealt with that."

She laughed and nuzzled into his neck. "You must really want to get lucky if you're willing to consider sheets with less than a thousand thread count."

Logan laughed again. "You clearly have never been in the crew quarters of an aircraft carrier. Not a lot of fine Egyptian cotton." He kicked the door shut, then moved toward the bed, lowering her until she was sitting on the edge, then dropping again onto one knee. "We missed a step when you were all 'Oh, that. Of course' outside." He dug into his pocket, producing a jeweler's box which he popped open, extracting the contents before reaching for her hand. "In the interest of moving this show along to the next act..." He slid a ring smoothly onto her left ring finger and she looked down at it with a smile.

"It's beautiful, Logan." She tilted her hand experimentally, letting the diamond solitaire catch the light. "I love it."

"I was a little worried about whether I should wait until we could go ring shopping together," he said, "but it didn't feel right to not have something to give you."

"Good choice." She clasped her hands against the sides of his neck and pulled him toward her. He grinned down at her and came willingly, wrapping his arms around her hips and moving onto the bed, scooting her back so they were stretched out together diagonally across the mattress.

After several minutes of kissing, Logan pulled back and settled on one elbow, beaming down at her as he ran his hand over her jacket.

"You've got a lot of clothes on," he teased, pushing the leather out of the way and skittering his fingers under the bottom of her shirt.

"I dressed to sit out in my car," she replied, squirming to shrug out of the jacket, "not to come inside and get busy."

Logan laughed and pulled her into a seated position, tugging the jacket off and tossing it to the foot of the bed, before skinning her shirt over her head and unhooking her bra.

"Plans have obviously changed," he said as he unbuttoned her jeans, then stood up to pull them off her.

"You need to lose some clothes too while you're up there," she ordered and he laughed as he peeled his shirt off.

"Geez, engaged for two minutes and you're already so bossy." He shimmied out of his own jeans, much to her delight.

"I prefer the term authoritative. And you say that like I'm ever anything else." She reached for him. "Now get down here."

"Yes, ma'am, whatever you say, ma'am." He settled beside her, gathering her in his arms, then rolling onto his back and pulling her to stretch on top of his hard, now-naked body.

"Perfect, that's exactly the kind of attitude I'm looking for in a husband. I think this is going to work out fine."


End file.
